


Bonds Ever Unbroken (What Cannot Be Lost)

by WishMage



Category: Smallville, Superboy (Comics), Superman - All Media Types, Young Justice (Comics), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Clark is cold at first, Clone Lex, Do not post to other sites, Do not repost, Episode: s03e08 Shattered, Episode: s03e09 Asylum, Explosions, Found Family, Hurt/Comfort, Kon is just happy to see Lex, Kryptonian Biology, Kryptonian Culture & Customs, M/M, Mating Bond, Panic Attacks, Past Character Death, Post-Rift, Rating May Change, Shock, Trauma Recovery, Unreliable Narrator, WIP, Will have a happy ending, but comes around quick, do not copy to other sites, from my old WIP folder, likely to become poly-ship, may add more relationship tags, mental trauma, meta-kids are raised with 'it takes a village' approach, no beta we die like men, non-graphic stomach emptying, plays with fave bits of various DC canon, will add characters as they appear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:13:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25977274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WishMage/pseuds/WishMage
Summary: The last thing Lex remembered before he woke up with a lab exploding around him was his father hovering over him after he'd been strapped down and worrying for Clark who'd been dragged away, defenseless. After barely escaping the labs with his life, he finds himself in a world that seems more like comic books than anything approaching reality.Finding out he's a clone in a world where mutants- No. metahumans seemed to openly use their powers, plus Lex Luthor being recently dead, makes Lex consider occasionally that he's experiencing a coma-dream.Whatever the case, he's got with his best friend beside him and is determined to make the best of it. At very least, he can learn from the mistakes of his previous self.
Relationships: Clark Kent/Lex Luthor
Comments: 11
Kudos: 47





	Bonds Ever Unbroken (What Cannot Be Lost)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ergo_D](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ergo_D/gifts).



> This is an idea I kept starting over the years. It hit me again this year, and I've been getting stuck with this plotbunny over and over since at least 2011 according to my Evernote. I found the best version of a start of it I had in a Drive folder, ended up writing 14 pages worth in one day and now here's a fairly decent sized chapted 1.
> 
> Some of this fic may be inspired by old roleplays based on this same plotbunny (I cannot escape them once they have me) with @Ergo_D, who has given permission if I choose to go that route.
> 
> Might be posting a few more WIP's and Im going to be working on 'Lex Luthor, Dad & Reforming Supervillain' today, not sure when the next bit of that will be up, but soon.

His eyes snapped open and Lex jerked, instantly aware there was something _terribly_ wrong. His mind was muddled, thoughts dampened. Too confused to figure out where he was, it took him a moment to clear his head of the fuzz and sensation of panic and realize he couldn't hear anything because his ears were ringing. When his stomach seized, he rolled to his hands and knees and vomited out water, and then struggled to keep himself upright as he gaped and trembled. Just as some of his senses seemed to stabilize, a fireball lit the area behind him, reflected in glass littered around him. Despite not hearing it, he felt the force and heat of it roll over him, scattering the shards of glass around him and forcing him flat. Gasping for air, he blinked rapidly and realized two things at that moment, he was in shock, and he was in trouble.

Gritting his teeth, Lex forced himself to push through the shock and get his hands under him again, forcing himself up on trembling, unusually weak arms. He saw, but didn’t feel the shard of glass slice through his hand as he struggled to get his legs under him. Somewhat distantly he registered he was completely naked and covered in some kind of viscous, gelatinous fluid.  
  
The shock, he realized, had his mind moving too slowly, focusing on the wrong things, overstimulated. It didn’t matter that he couldn't remember where he was or why, or if the place looked like a lab and it was coming down around his ears. It didn’t matter if it was a part of Belle Reeve or not, He insisted as his mind grasped for answers. If he didn’t push past the shock and get out of here he wouldn’t survive long enough to make sense of any of it.

Lex coughed painfully and gasped as the heat, smoke, and all the noise seemed to hit him at once. He stumbled into a wall and then groped along it, looking behind him as another part of the ceiling caved.

Barely able to make out his surroundings through the haze of smoke he stumbled nearly blindly forward. Only a few emergency lights were on, casting everything in an alarming crimson hue that made it look as though the rubble around him was painted in gore. It was a stroke of fate that he stumbled into the stairwell. He couldn't see for the sting in his eyes and fell, as the wall gave way, onto his hands and knees. He was thankfully still too numb for the pain to register and forgot shame as he scrambled up the stairs, naked, filthy, and bleeding. They led to a door and strangely enough the door just led to a rung ladder up to a hatch. How had he gotten underground?

Wasting no time, Lex climbed up, coughing as the smoke got thicker as he rose and finally holding his breath. His eyes shut, he reached up when he reached the top rung, found the wheel, and struggled with the hatch until it gave way and he burst forth, coughing and hacking. He crawled out into the sunlight and found himself in a huge field, and gasped for air as he scanned the horizon, still on his knees.

A massive explosion tore through the air behind him and he dropped to the ground, curling around himself and throwing his arms over his head as the wall of heat and rumbling sound hit him. Flaming debris rained down around him when he dared open his eyes. When he uncurled and looked behind him he saw what looked like a small set of offices or labs burning to the ground about a hundred and fifty meters away. He must have been under that, Lex realized. Sitting up, he took stock of the situation.

He'd been strapped down in Belle Reeve, his dad gloating above him and Clark had been dragged off somewhere, hurt. Powerless. Then he'd woken in an underground lab, God knows where. He was naked and wet and he couldn't remember anything leading up to this after his father looming over the electroshock table. This all just screamed his father's handiwork. 

Realizing that he was in shock, and sitting there would do him no favors, he took stock of himself. He was hurt and in shock, and _still_ bleeding, which for him was bad. He needed help, and he wasn't about to fall right back into his father’s hands by going to the hospital, or getting arrested for public indecency and suspicion of destroying whatever it was he’d found himself being held under. He’d realize, later, that he still hadn't been thinking clearly as instead of coming up with a plan, he got up and ran.

\----  
  
Lex came aware at an emergency roadside phone with no idea how he’d made it there, pain in his feet sharp and biting and listening to a woman’s voice saying hello, questioningly. As he was blinking into awareness he recognized the voice and the sigh that signified giving up before she would hand up.  
  
“Martha” He rasped, voice aching as though he’d been screaming himself raw. He coughed and tried to clear it. He wondered for a dazed second why he’d called the Kents instead of his own security, but just as quickly realized he couldn’t trust anyone else after what he’d found out about his father, and Edge,

"Martha," he tried again, and noted the dazed tone in his voice that some part of him knew meant he was concussed "It's Lex. Clark, is Clark home?" he knew she had said something, had been talking but it faded under a rushing noise as his vision went white. He became aware again leaning heavily into the utility pole the emergency phone was attached to.  
  
"Help, I need help." He managed through clattering teeth. He laughed when he realized she was asking him here he was over and over. He tried to focus on the sign posted above the phone, but his vision swam in and out and rather than a town or road name and numbers, all he saw was a blur.  
  
"I don't know." he whispered just as his legs gave out. The phone was ripped from his hand when he collapsed back onto the burning pavement. He lay there then, staring at the sky, feeling high as a kite and knew that wasn't a good sign at all.  
  
"Idiot," He murmured to himself as his vision swam. No one would be able to save him if he wasn’t even able to say where he was.

His eyes closed and it seemed the very next instant he was being prodded, none too gently. He must have passed out, he realized, as he opened his eyes and winced against the brightness of the sun above. Someone was hovering over him and he flinched violently, unsure if someone followed him from the explosion site. Lex tried to focus, and the features of the hulking man swam into place fuzzily to his great relief.  
  
"Clark, you found me." He laughed hoarsely, dizzy with relief. Or, perhaps that was the concussion he was certain he had.  
  
"I need clothes, no hospital or police, I think..." He must have faded out again because he was in Clark's arms suddenly, and the world blurred. He closed his eyes against a dizzying flying sensation he’d gotten after nearly drowning and next time he opened his eyes he was on the couch at Clark's house. His head injury had to be worse than he imagined if he’d missed the entire trip back and Clark getting him situated. Unless this had to do with Clark’s sloppily kept secret mutant abilities.  
  
He could hear Martha speaking in soft tones in the kitchen, Clark replying. He made out their stressed tones as he mentally catalogued his injuries and silently regretted bringing more trouble to their doorstep. Lex lifted at his throbbing hand, which had been bandaged and wrapped in gauze, and realized he had been dressed. Passed out for a good while seemed more and more likely. He was in a pair of flannel pajama pants that fit surprisingly well and a T-shirt that was far too loose.

As he sat up slowly he heard Clark make a shushing noise in the kitchen. He wondered how he'd even been heard, when he looked up Clark and Martha were in the doorway, both staring at him. Clark was looking at him like he was some kind of strange bug and Martha looked scared, and... old.

A deep breath brought him back andLex found himself staring He wondered for a second if this woman was Martha’s mother, or older, much older sister. She looked up at Clark though and Lex knew it was her. He'd know that worried and concerned look anywhere. The woman looked like she had aged ten or fifteen years overnight.

Lex opened his mouth as he stood, about to ask what had happened and turned his gaze back to Clark, who was suddenly directly in front of him, making him nearly jump out of his skin. He caught Clark's arm for balance thinking he must have faded out for a moment because it was almost as though Clark had disappeared and reappeared in front of him. He was further stunned when Clark jerked his arm away and then pushed him back onto the couch with a firm shove to the center of his chest. He heard Martha protesting and looked up, almost expecting a bashful smile and apology for forgetting his strength, instead finding himself on the end of an icy glare.

His eyes widened as he met Clarks, seeing for the first time something like loathing in his eyes. It hurt, to have the one true friend he'd had look at him the way everyone else did. It silenced the words on his lips and he looked up at Clark, studying his face and realizing something else. Clark looked older too. Clark WAS older. Clark put a hand by his face and leaned in toward him, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.  
  
"Clark?" he whispered, fear in his voice as his hand acted almost on its own. He reached up and touched Clark’s face - which seemed years older, weathered - in a familiar pattern they’d settled between them somehow in their few years knowing one another. It seemed to happen always by accident, in times of stress, s for Lex especially it was entirely inappropriate with a teenager. His fingertips touched Clark’s temple and traced over his cheekbone to the edge of his jaw. Surprise lit Clark’s eyes then.

"Is it you?" Clark's face changed, and Lex saw the bitter cold melt somewhat, turn to confusion, and pain. Well, that was better than the glare but didn't serve to make Lex feel any better. 

"Why would you ask me that?” Lex asked instead, searching Clark’s eyes and swallowing against the fear and uncertainty that crept up his spine and threatened to close his throat as he looked at Clark. Lex glanced at Martha for a moment before turning his gaze back to the man who’d apparently become of his young, teenage friend.  
  
“What's going on?" He glanced over at Martha and then so only Clark could hear said, "You look so much older than I... know. I must be missing years. My father, he must have...” Lex was surprised by the stunned look on Clark’s face. He still felt confused, that familiar drugged haze over everything. What was the last thing he could remember? How many years were missing? How many decades? Had he ever escaped Belle Reve or just been transferred to whatever lab he’d woken up in? The thoughts scared him and he looked at Clark, momentarily forgetting that angry look Clark had when he woke. 

“When was the last time you saw me? How many years?” Without a word to him, or even acknowledging the questions, Clark moved away and drew Martha back into the kitchen and Lex remained on the couch, feeling hurt and a bit shocked by Clark's behavior. What had he done that Clark of all people would ignore him like this? Like he wasn’t to be trusted. Had he become his father?

Every so often Clark would look out as though to see if Lex had disappeared. Finally, growing impatient and a bit angry, he pushed himself up and made his way somewhat unsteadily to the bathroom. He winced as the pain of having destroyed the soles of his gauze-wrapped feet registered but ignored the sensation, as was habit, and flicked on the light. Lex looked in the mirror and was almost as surprised as he was both relieved and worried to find that he looked the same as he felt. He still looked twenty-four. What did that mean? Had he not aged? Maybe he’d not lost memories and Clark and his mother had been somehow aged up? As this was Smallville, that wouldn’t be beyond the realm of possibilities.

He stared at himself in the mirror, feeling his mind start to clear. He remembered the island, coming back to find Clark and his parents miserably hauling boxes into a moving truck and had put a stop to that. The hug that had felt like an end to his months of suffering and put everything in perspective for him stood out in his mind as one of his life’s turning points. That had been a few months ago. Or had it?

He was jarred out of his thoughts when he clearly heard the distinctive creek of Clark’s window sliding open. He remembered it from his stay here when his father had thrown a fit and disowned him. His eyes widened as he heard treads above him, two people it sounded like. He could still hear Clark talking to Martha softly in the kitchen and his eyes widened with startled outrage as he realized someone was trying to sneak in. Badly.  
  
He darted out of the bathroom toward the kitchen to tell Clark to get his father’s gun, thinking that whomever had put him in that facility might have tracked him here when he heard what sounded like elephants on the stairs. It sounded a lot like Clark descending them actually. He stopped in the kitchen doorway, blinking in surprise at Martha and Clark sitting at the table in the remodeled kitchen, looking at him in surprise rather than alarm when there were now obviously people in their home. 

“ _Dad_?” He heard behind him, the tone stunned. Somehow he just knew it was being directed at him. He turned to find two teenagers staring at him with surprised expressions. The smaller one of them had what his father liked to call ‘slacker hair’, and was studying Lex with wide golden eyes, open curiosity and an open, innocent look. The taller of the two looked almost remarkably like Clark. There were small differences though, the blue of the eyes, the chin, the lips - it looked almost like Lucas and Clark had a lovechild who was staring at him with a shocked expression.

“Claaaark?” The young man called with growing alarm, continuing to stare at him. “What the hell is going on?” Lex realized then that there was a third teenager with them, lurking (there was no other word for it) in the shadows of the stairway, wearing sunglasses. Lex had only noticed him because he’d turned on some kind of lit device that he was speaking softly into.

Lex very nearly started again as Clark stepped up beside him in the doorway. He looked at him and realized Clark didn’t just look older, he was physically _bigger_ than he’d been last Lex remembered too, which was impressive given that he’d been the size of a large man when Lex met him at the age of fourteen. Given the evidence he was being presented now it seemed as though he was the oddity here, which meant he _was_ missing time. It irritated him that he had no idea what was going on and Clark hadn’t deigned to offer him a single word and he finally snapped.

“Yes _Clark_ . Do enlighten us. That is, if you can deign to actually _speak_ a word to me.” That last part, he wouldn’t have let slip out, were he not concussed. He eyed Clark cooly, non-expression firmly in place, trying to distance himself, and hoped that his friend hadn’t picked up on the flicker of hurt that had slipped into the words. The way the tall teen’s eyes flickered from Clark, who was giving his best put-upon sigh, to him let him know that even if Clark missed it, those sharp blue eyes had not. 

Lex flicked his eyes away, to the much shorter boy and met his golden gaze. He was surprised when Gold Eyes offered him the first smile he’d seen since he’d woken up with the world exploding around him. The smile was bright, genuine and eased something in him the same way Clark’s smiles usually did. He felt his mask slipping slightly in reaction and crossed his arms, gaze flickering to the stairway but finding no trace of the third boy he’d seen.  
  
When a slender hand found his shoulder, he jumped slightly, as it wasn’t a touch he was overly familiar with. Lex looked up to find Clark had moved past him, further into the living-room and was looking at him with another puzzled frown, but Martha was standing beside him finally offering him the tender gaze he was used to from her. He swallowed thickly in reaction, wanting to take comfort from it but not daring to in such an unfamiliar situation when his best friend was not only unfamiliarly aged, but acting more like Jonathan Kent than the Clark he knew.  
  
Still, it would be beyond rude to shrug her hand off despite the overwhelming sensations that felt like drugged overstimulation, and being in a situation beyond him. Panic blocked his throat and his chest stung painfully with the way Clark was acting. He wasn’t going to give in to any of that though. He was still Lex Luthor. Instead, he took a deep breath and nodded his thanks to Martha. Lex both appreciated the kind squeeze she gave him and didn’t like the way the comfort made him feel like he was going to tremble apart.  
  
Fuck. He was shaking, wasn’t he?  
  
His feet were still screaming at him and his thoughts were fuzzy, unfocused and confused. Perhaps the head injury explained the forgotten memory. It wouldn’t explain why he hadn’t aged a day. He’d suspected his healing ability might slow his aging process past twenty-five so perhaps that’s why he still looked himself while there was a teen who looked Clark’s age calling him ‘dad’. He- didn’t know what to make of that and filed it away for when he could process things better. 

Another breath and he could speak. “Thank you, Martha. I’m fine.” He reached up and lightly touched her fingers, then dropped his hand. He needed to sit down, but didn’t like the idea of not being on his feet when he had little idea what was going on and Clark was looking at him like he could see through him. As Martha moved back into the kitchen, Lex tore his eyes from his friend over to the teens who’d joined them, surprised to find three there now. The third, still wearing sunglasses, inside. Inanely, Lex wondered if there was something unusual about his eyes.  
  
“Or I will be,” He said to Martha as his eyes slipped from the teens, openly staring at him, over to Clark once more. “If I can figure out what’s going on.”

“Bart, Conner, Tim,” Martha called, and Lex noticed Sunglasses flinch as he felt the same strong breeze he’d felt several times during sudden not-as-unexplained-as-they-should-be rescues. Only, Cark was still in the front of him, but Gold Eyes had disappeared. The teen who called him dad walked toward him, and then past, keeping eye contact and looking astounded the entire time. He glanced back into the kitchen and found the table entirely set and Gold Eyes disappearing and reappearing around the room. He would have thought it teleportation if not for the breeze kicking up and making the curtains and paper towels folded under forks on the table flutter.  
  
Sunglasses moved past him then and sighed at the display, glancing at Lex before pressing his fingers to his temple and rubbing in a motion that reminded him starkly of Bruce Wayne. Then he was back on his device for a moment before he turned with a smile to Martha and began to speak quietly to her.  
  
Utterly bewildered, Lex turned back to Clark almost instinctively, forgetting for a moment the treatment thus far. His eyebrows were raised curiously and he opened his mouth to let some sort of question tumble out. It was halted when he jumped in surprise at finding Clark looming directly over him. Lex looked up at him, unaware in his confused state that his vulnerability and confusion had slipped into his expression faced with the one person he’d always thought he could trust.  
  
“Clark, will you please tell me what’s happening?” Lex asked, very quietly. “Who are they? What’s the date? What-” Lex trailed off then, losing focus as what he knew churned through his mind. Could he have time-traveled? That didn’t explain anything about where he woke. A hand on his shoulder brought him back into the room and his eyes moved from where he’d apparently been staring through Clark’s shoulder up to his face. He saw concern there then, and the somewhat hard stare had softened once more.  
  
“Clark?” He found himself asking hollowly, sounding irritatingly lost. His friend’s face cleared then of anything but concern. The hand gave his shoulder a squeeze, much like Martha’s had, but he felt like he might crumble apart entirely when it was Clark offering him comfort.  
  
“You should sit down.” Clark said, the kind tone he’d expected from the start now present in his friend’s voice. He was then gently manhandled over to the table where he sat in the chair Clark pulled out for him like his strings were cut. Clark helped him to shift into a more comfortable position, unasked and then pushed his chair in as though Lex weighed nothing. An almost hysterical huff left him as he wondered if the casual slip his friend so often made was unintentional or just unrealized as a slip. None of them seemed at all alarmed that Gold Eyes was obviously a mutant.  
  
Looking across the table as Clark sat beside him, he found himself looking into eyes very much like his own, and took the moment to study the teen who had called him dad. He could see the Luthor traits but he looked _so much_ like Clark. Lex’s mind immediately went to the gene sequencing programs he’d just begun to work on that could have yielded technology to create genetically unique individuals from DNA combination. Did that mean he and Clark were...? He glanced beside him to see Clark staring at his forehead in concern. He reached up to see if he had a cut or something and asked, feeling entirely off-kilter.  
  
“What?”  
  
“You have a concussion.” Clark said. “Pretty severe. Not healing as fast as you usually do.” Lex nodded, not surprised at the information he had a concussion as much as how Clark knew how quickly it was healing. Lex accepted easily enough that he’d told Clark his own mutant abilities, but had no idea how the other man could tell how quickly he was or wasn’t healing just by looking.  
  
“Okay.” Lex said, softly. “What year is it?” He asked again, and was slightly irritated when, instead of answering, Clark just looked at him and tilted his head.  
  
“What year do you remember it being?” He asked, and Lex frowned, but understood why he was being asked. He answered, hesitantly.  
  
“It’s.. It was November, 2003. The last thing I remember was Bell Reeve... They-” He glanced at Martha, and the other teens, and decided that they probably knew more about Clark than he did, technically. He slipped back into the memory he’d been describing. The last thing that had happened before he woke up in an exploding underground lab.  
  
“They dragged you away, and I couldn’t get to you.” Was that panic that had slipped out? Fuck. He was trembling again, he noticed as he glanced down at his hands, one heavily bandaged. Martha laid a hand on his shoulder again as she sat down on his other side and the table was as full as Lex had ever seen it. Of both food, and people. One more chair he noticed, then he’d seen before. Logic told him he was sitting in Jonathan Kent’s chair but he was afraid to ask after the conclusion that he’d indeed missed a lot.  
  
“It’s 2020, dear.” Martha said as Lex’s gaze had wandered from her to Sunglasses, who was paying more attention to the lit device Lex had noted earlier than any goings-on at the table. Or so it seemed for a moment, he could feel when the boy looked up at him despite not being able to see his eyes. Martha had said 2020. He was supposed to be forty.  
  
“Excuse me?” He asked, arching a brow, and was surprised when there was a soft chuckle. He looked over to find Golden Eyes looking at his maybe-son with a grin.  
  
“He’s _totally_ your dad.” Lex just managed to hear the words as Golden Eyes murmured it to his apparently-son.  
  
He was going to have to get used to having a son. Lex took a breath and exhaled shakily as he silently vowed to be nothing like his own father. Especially given that he was sure the man had been behind his mental breakdown and subsequent imprisonment in the first place. He shuddered at the memory of Julian’s cries haunting him over the past month, and tried not to let the hysterical feeling rising in him take hold.  
  
“Anyone have any ideas why I don’t have any memories?” Lex asked then, slightly cross at feeling very on display for the three strangers who seemed very comfortable there in the Kent kitchen while he was half a breath away from having another meltdown.  
  
“Oh, You’re definitely a clone.” The teen who was his son said with certainty, eyes still on Lex with fierce interest. He seemed happy about it, until he winced sharply at an elbow from Sunglasses even as Martha gasped “ _Conner_ !”  
  
Well, Lex thought, through a haze of shock, at least he knew which name to assign his son. Which meant the other two were Tim and Bart. He’d figure out which, soon enough. Clark’s hand was back on his shoulder then, squeezing, grounding him in the moment somehow. He looked up at Clark, getting lost in the familiar blue-green gaze.  
  
“Definitely your dad.” He heard Gold Eyes say again, and pulled his gaze from Clark to find the teen smiling at him again, only, as though he were something cute. He frowned slightly and then Conner caught his attention by gesturing at him.  
  
“Oh come _on_ , it’s not like he wasn’t going to figure it out in five minutes anyway. Then he would have been pissed off no one told him and then where would we be? He can’t just walk into Lexcorp and have everyone start treating him like-” His voice caught in his throat then, and Lex caught the flash of pain that was skillfully covered in the next moment.  
  
“They’d know right away.” Kon met his eyes then “You look too young and you’ve got both hands. But don’t worry, being a clone’s not that bad. _I’m_ a clone. Kind of.” His hand waved in front of his face with a dismissive motion. “I’m just saying, there’s no point in keeping it from him.”  
  
Lex realized then that he was probably still in shock, in addition to being concussed. It was taking a surprising amount of time to process this. He was a clone. So... did clones have rights in 2020? No one at the table seemed particularly upset that he was a clone. It was no wonder Clark had been giving him that distrustful look. If a second Clark had shown up, he wouldn’t have known what to make of it.  
  
“Actually,” Sunglasses was saying, “He might be able to. Luthor set things up carefully so that after his death so that a clone of himself could legally take charge of everything, after a series of tests. I don’t know what they’d be but-” He trailed off and Lex felt those eyes on him again from behind the dark glasses. “We could find out.”  
  
Lex sat silent, stunned. He was a clone, and he was dead? “I... I died?”  
  
All eyes turned to him then, something about his tone, Lex assumed, but he was still having difficulty focusing rather than drifting, and at the moment it didn’t seem to matter. Clark’s hand was still heavy on his shoulder, and Lex found himself staring past the curtains out the kitchen window. No one replied to him, their faces sad, worried, or carefully blank.  
  
At least he’d been cared about. It seemed like he’d had a son... possibly with Clark, and the people around the table at very least didn’t seem happy he’d died. They didn’t exactly seem thrilled he was here either, though. If he’d died... he thought, lips turning downward. Then-  
  
His eyes moved back to Clark and he felt his chest heave slightly. Hurt and confusion warred in him as he remembered last time he’d ‘died’ and then come back to Clark. The other had barely said a word before Lex had been engulfed in enormous arms and held like something precious. This time- His mind went back to the way Clark had pushed him forcefully back into the couch, looking furious for a moment.  
  
Was it because he was a clone? Had Lex done something to hurt Clark?  
  
“What-?” He was cut off by surprise when Clark moved his hand from his shoulder to the back of his head and then suddenly Lex was being engulfed by the hug he’d remembered from months ago, years ago, only Clark was _bigger_ . He was literally enormous now, with a few inches height and having packed muscle on until he looked like he could lift an ox without his mutant strength. He raised his arms then and wrapped himself around Clark slightly in return.  
  
Fuck. He was a clone. It was seventeen years into the future from last he’d known. Wait. Had the research somehow advanced so rapidly that he’d been able to create Conner within the next few years? What had Jonathan thought of he and Clark having some kind of love child? Was that what had happened?  
  
“I want to know everything.” He said, squeezing Clark a little tighter, afraid despite himself. The fear grew when he heard Clark give a world weary and reluctant sign before crushing him closer. What was it that Clark didn’t want him to know? Clark had just shown him he had powers... or, shown the real him, seventeen years ago.  
  
“Can I stay here?” He asked then, not certain what else to do. If he was a clone he wasn’t sure he’d be able to access his finds, especially as a dead man. At least, not his legal ones. Seventeen years later he had no idea what had happened since, but he knew he couldn’t depend on resources from seventeen years prior being in place. “Until I know my next step? A few days?”  
  
Clark leaned back then. “You can stay with me.” Clark said, and Lex relaxed then. “I just... my apartment’s one-bedroom, not the best, but it’s in Metropolis.” Lex frowned up at Clark then. Why would he not have the best place? If Lex had died, Clark should by all rights be set for his life and the lives of any children and grandchildren he might have. Something had gone very wrong, and Lex wasn’t sure he wanted to find out yet.  
  
“You’ve been invited to stay in Gotham, too.” Sunglasses spoke up, and Lex couldn't help the confused frown. He had no idea who the teen was, nor why he’d be inclined to accept an invitation to stay from a stranger. The boy lowered his sunglasses a bit to peer over them at him, and Lex felt strangely like he’s just passed some sort of test. “Bruce says you’re both welcome.”  
  
Lex stared at the teen a bit, noting his coloring, his eyes. The familiar gesture from earlier made sense suddenly. He would have thought any kid of Bruce’s would be tall, but the expression on the teen's face was _all_ Bruce Wayne.  
  
Lex pursed his lips in thought, looking over the three boys. They were obviously friends, comfortable with a meta, so possibly all metas, and comfortable in this house, in Smallville. If his son and Wayne’s son were close, then it was likely Bruce was still trustworthy. He always had been. Still, seventeen years was a young lifetime, he thought as he considered the boys.  
  
His gaze shifted back to Clark “You know Bruce Wayne.” Martha chuckled behind him and Clark looked embarrassed, making Lex’s eyebrows climb. Exactly _how well_ did Clark know Bruce? He very nearly demanded it as jealousy flashed through his mind for an instant. The way it always did with Clark’s romantic interests.  
  
Just as quickly he snuffed it out and gave Clark a teasing look and thoughtful hum. This was familiar at least, watching Clark go scarlet as he teased him with nonverbal innuendo about other people.  
  
“Yeah.” Clark answered after a moment, avoiding his gaze. Lex took pity on him, and settled back into his chair, letting Clark pull back to his own.  
  
“So he’s trustworthy?” Clark frowned a bit, looking at Lex, and nodded. Lex nodded in return. “I’ll have more resources there... if you trust him. I _did_ , before. But it’s been a long time. I’m - could you come with me?” He realized he had no idea what Clark did for work in Metropolis. “Could you take the time off? It would be good to have someone I know I can trust tell me who else I can or can’t trust.”  
  
“If that’s what you need, yeah. I have a pretty lenient schedule, and can work from anywhere most of the time.” Clark answered with a smile.  
  
“What the actual fuck is happening right now?” Was uttered tonelessly from across the table, quickly followed by Martha Kent sighing.  
  
“Language.” She reprimanded as though tired of reminding him, and as Lex looked at Conner, his expression went from staring across the table in open astonishment to the same sheepish look Clark used to get when he’d been caught doing literally anything he thought he shouldn’t.  
  
Lex frowned, and looked at Clark, wondering the reason for that shock. Clark just gave him that placating smile that had gone from soothing to slightly infuriating in the years since they’d met. The one that said ‘don’t worry about it’ when it was something Lex needed to know. He made a frustrated noise and looked down at his hands.  
  
“How did I - he...” Dammit, he was stumbling all over his words. Concussed, he reminded himself. “Why did he only have one hand?” He asked, and for the first time there was no hesitation before anyone answered. Sunglasses, Conner, and Clark all spoke up at once, talking over one another.  
  
“Cancer, officially.”; “Kryptonite Poisoning.”; “It wasn’t your fault Lex, you weren’t in your right mind.”  
  
Lex blinked for a moment as he processed that and looked at Clark, Sunglasses, who’d provided the ‘official’ cause with finger quotes, and to Conner, who’d given it to him straightest thus far.  
  
“What kind of poisoning, and what is it that wasn’t my fault?” He asked, not moving his eyes from Conner when Clark made an uncomfortable noise and shifted.  
  
Conner glanced beside him at Clark and then shrugged whatever look he was being given off and looked Lex directly in the eye. Lex allowed himself a moment of relief that he knew the teen was going to be frank with him before Conner began to speak.  
  
“So uh, basically you went kind of off the deep end, I guess it turns out because of kryptonite exposure, and then spent a couple years wearing a kryptonite ring to keep _him_ away from you.” Kon jerked his thumb toward Clark. “Anyway, uh... you got really sick and quit wearing it, but the radiation took your hand. His hand. Luthor’s. That was a while ago though. Before you became president even.”  
  
“I was-” He started, and heard Clark sigh beside him and decided the topic could wait. Sunglasses jumped on it though.  
  
“Two terms. 2009 to 2017. During your terms, gay marriage became legal, Universal Healthcare was enacted, you canceled all school debts, stopped funding private organizations that discriminate with US tax dollars, and the Equal Rights Amendment was added to the constitution. It was also the only time in _my_ life the US wasn’t at war.” He pushed the sunglasses onto his head and met Lex’s eyes. “You were widely considered to be the best president of modern times.”  
  
Lex let out a long, shallow breath, feeling relieved, overwhelmed and a bit disappointed that he didn’t have that future before him. At least- could a clone legally run for a presidential term when they're predecessor had been president? He scowled. No, that would set a dangerous precedent that might allow for one person to serve far too many terms, possibly to the detriment of the country. He nodded after a moment, feeling all eyes still on him.  
  
“What else do I need to know?” He asked, and then Martha held out a hand.  
  
“Boys, I think that’s enough for now. Lex, honey, you obviously need some rest, and you’ve already had a trying day. The food’s getting cold, so everyone please dig in. After dinner, we can figure out who’s sleeping where, and then Lex is going to get some sleep. Clark, go get another chair in case your father wanders in before dusk.” The tone she used, though gentle, motherly, left no room for debate.

Lex noticed the boys exchange a look even as he glanced over at Clark, who was setting another chair between himself and Sunglasses. At least that answered that question. He felt a mixture at relief knowing Mr. Kent was just out, but anxiety at possibly having to face his disapproval on top of everything else.  
  
Missing seventeen years, finding out he’s a clone, waking up in the lab. The gelatinous liquid all over him and the glass everywhere made sense. He’d probably been kept in some sort of life support, stasis. If there had been any other clones, they probably hadn’t survived, but he wanted to know for sure. He filled his plate with a little of each serving tray he’d been passed and picked at it as he tried to digest everything he’d learned, everything that had happened to him over the past month, and that last month had been seventeen years ago.

When they’d finished dinner and the plates had vanished and reappeared spotless in the drying rack, Lex caught Clark’s eye and indicated the door. He wanted to talk, privately, to get an idea of where they stood with one another, and to work on his next move. He slipped on a pair of sandals Clark tossed at him with a little grimace, then followed him outside and across the driveway. He bypassed the barn, which surprised Lex, and walked out toward the fields.  
  
“So, uh-” Clark said, the words and tone achingly familiar despite the deeper timber and the change in the way Clark carried himself. There was less awkwardness, a subtle and quiet confidence in the way he walked and held himself. “What do you want to know?”  
  
Lex sighed, feeling overwhelmed again but a bit more able to focus and glad his feet were no longer hurting. He wondered if Clark could tell that as well. “I- I have to admit I’m at a bit of a loss. Earlier today, or- last night? You came to save me, like I knew you would. I remember getting the shit beat out of me when they dragged you away, then when I tried to follow they found and sedated me, and then nothing. Now... I’m waking up seventeen years later and you’re-” _Gorgeous_ . “a grown man. Older than me. It’s a lot to take in.” Lex exhaled and thought for a moment.  
  
“Is my father still around?” He asked after a moment, because that seemed the most pressing. “Or Morgan Edge?” Clark shook his head, watching him carefully, and Lex let himself relax a little. It was weird to hear his father was gone, but after what he’d just been through, at the moment, he just felt a numb sort of regret and a lot of relief.  
  
“Then, Conner. He lives here, not with you?” Clark glanced away, looking a bit guilty, and nodded. “He called you Clark,” Lex paused, and Clark nodded again, and finished with “and me, dad.” Clark just looked at him, not offering up any more information, frustratingly enough. Lex blew a frustrated sigh out of his lower lip.  
  
“Don’t make me beg here, Clark, fill me in. He looks just like you. Is he ours? Did we- were we together?” He couldn’t disguise the naked hope he felt at the prospect. He’d imagined it more than a few times during the last month as he’d been in Bell Reeve, half-addled out of his mind with the medication they forced down his throat daily. Clark, busting him out with his powers. Him going underground for just long enough to release all the information he had on his dad and Edge and take them down, and then...  
  
There had been so many ‘ _and then_ ’s imagined over the last month. They all had one thing in common. He and Clark being open with one another, facing the world together. Knowing they would protect one another no matter what. In almost all of them, Lex had dared to imagine it might lead to more than friendship.  
  
The look of regret on Clark’s face as he rubbed the back of his neck didn’t bode well for those dreams though. There had to have been something that went wrong if Clark was living in an apartment that was ‘not the best’ when Lex’s death should have left the Kents very well off indeed.  
  
“It’s complicated.” Clark said, not looking at him. Lex stared at him, waiting for him to expand on that. He waited until it became obvious that that was ALL he had to say, and Lex ground his teeth in annoyance, narrowing his eyes.  
  
“Clark, I’m going to need a little more than that, and something tells me none of the important stuff is going to be a matter of public record. Why does a kid who looks like a combination of us call _me_ dad, call you by your given name, and live with your parents instead of- Did you not want custody once I’d died? Did... did I not leave any of you anything?” If he’s been president just a few years ago, he couldn’t have lost everything, could he? Had all his assets been frozen because of something he’d done?  
  
Clark sighed and finally looked at him again, seeming slightly surprised for a moment. Lex supposed he could understand that. Seeing Clark as a grown man, and larger than he’d been when Lex had assumed him fully grown was a bit of an adjustment.  
  
“He did. Kon is taken care of, most of it is in trust funds you set up for him that open at various ages, but between you and Bruce those boys want for nothing.” Clark smiled a bit, but there was a guilt behind it that Lex could read miles away. “He’s smart too, Mom said his school counselor thinks he can get in anywhere he applies. He uh, goes to Smallville High.” Clark ducked his head slightly and glanced sideways at Lex.  
  
“I take it I didn’t approve?” Lex asked, reading the look and Clark snorted and shook his head. He didn’t approve, if Conner was really that bright, then he should be in the finest schools, not Smallville High, but that, he guessed, wasn’t up to him and had already been hashed out.  
  
“Alright, the other two, Bart and Tim, which one’s which? And are there so many mutants now that abilities have become commonplace?” No one had bat an eye at the smallest of the three teens seemingly everywhere at once as the kitchen table had come together.  
  
He watched as Clark looked up at the sky, considering. “Meta-humans, Lex, not mutants. Bart’s the speedster. Bart Allen. The other is Tim Drake-Wayne. Bruce adopted him last year, but he’s been Bruce's ward for a few years now.” Lex was surprised to hear that Tim was adopted, rather than Bruce’s own, given the similarities he’d picked up on already, but then Clark had the same mannerisms as Jonathan so he shouldn't be too surprised.  
  
“They’ve been thick as thieves since they found one another. They’re good for Kon. He was... angry. Hurt, I guess, for a long time.” Clark looked down, guilt stamped across his expression. “That was my fault. I really messed things up when we first found him. I don’t think I can really fix it, but I’ve been trying.”  
  
Lex stared at Clark, wanting to offer some comfort, but not sure what to say without knowing the situation. “Found him?” He echoed instead.  
  
Clark looked up at him again, then back toward the farmhouse. “It was actually Tim and Bart who found him. In one of your dad’s old labs. A mostly abandoned Cadmus, in Hawaii.” Lex knew he looked surprised, unable to keep it from his face. Honesty, he’d been vowing for weeks. They’d be honest. He swallowed.  
  
“Clark, _I_ own Cadmus labs... _I’ve_ been working on gene sequencing and DNA analysis.” He admitted, feeling vaguely ill. Clark was smiling at him though, and shaking his head.  
  
“You _did_ . Luthorcorp bought it from the board after you handed over the company to be president. Kon was created while you were in office. They found him three years ago.” Clark said, gently. “We thought he was a clone of _me_ at first and I uh... I didn’t have the best reaction. I think you had your suspicions from the start because you- he, sorry. Luthor. The... not you. The other you-”  
  
“Clark.” Lex interrupted, and Clark looked up at him. Lex smiled. “I know what you mean.” He assured, one corner of his mouth lifting at the fact that Clark still stumbled all over himself verbally even though he seemed to have outgrown stumbling over himself physically. Clark flushed slightly and Lex felt his expression soften into a real smile.

“Yeah so _he_ took an interest in Kon right away, I thought it was because of Cadmus but...” He trailed off and shrugged, gathering his thoughts to continue.  
  
“We didn’t _talk_ about it?” Lex asked, feeling like he was poking at something impossibly fragile with that question. The unknown ‘why’ behind Clark living in what Lex imagined was probably close to squalor, the fact that Kon had been surprised at their earlier exchange, Clark’s pained look when he asked what they’d been to one another.  
  
“Not like we should have.” Clark said with a heavy sigh. “We had a few conversations but... we weren’t exactly on the best of terms. You tried though, for Kon. _He_ tried. Luthor. I should’ve-” Clark’s voice broke then and he looked miserable. Lex couldn’t take that look on Clark. He never had been able to.  
  
He stepped over to his friend, and reached up, like he had just days ago in Belle Reeve when he’d been half-lucid, drugged, and not entirely sure Clark was really there. Unsure of his welcome and not wanting to keep seeing Clark’s young, terrified face as he refused to rescue him, Lex set his hands on his shoulders instead. His truly massive shoulders. He thought he’d had to look up _before_ .  
  
Focus, Lex told himself.  
  
“Listen, Clark. Whatever happened between us... between you two, _we_ can learn from it. We don’t have to make the same mistakes twice and I don’t want to try to navigate this strange new world without my best friend beside me. Whatever happened between you and the other me, the real me, _I_ don’t trust anyone _other than_ you. Honestly, I’m not entirely sure this isn’t all a very vivid hallucination, or that I’m not in a fever dream. Last I remember I was barely conscious and dad was there while they strapped me down. I- I could be in a coma, I suppose. There have been quite a few studies done on people who’ve had NDE’s or have been in coma’s who experienced other lives, or an alternate version of their own. That would actually make a lot of sense.” He looked up to find Clark giving him a worried look.  
  
“Lex,” Clark breathed, and stepped closer, even though they were already barely a foot apart, “You _are_ real. You might be different, but you’re _real_ and you’re here. I can feel that it’s you. _This_ is real. I’m sorry for the way I was acting earlier. I just- God, Lex. You have no idea. It’s been a _lot_ . You’re not even the first clone of yours I’ve met. Luthor, the one who died, I’m like ninety-eight percent sure _he_ was a clone too, and then there was one who was your body but Lionel’s mind. It was- messed up. I guess I-” Clark broke off, and his shoulders sagged under Lex’s hands like the weight of the world rested upon him. Lex swallowed, then slid his arms around Clark’s neck and pulled the larger man close.  
  
Clark’s arms wound around him and he curled into Lex, buried his face against his neck, and inhaled. _This_ was the hug he’d expected after returning from the dead, even if he was a clone, but given what Clark said about his experience with a clone having Lionel’s mind, he didn’t fault him for his initial reaction.  
  
“It’s alright, Clark. I guess after hearing that I’m kind of relieved you didn’t just believe me outright.” He continued to hold Clark when the man showed no sign of pulling away from the hug or untucking his head from where it rested against Lex’s neck and shoulders. He slid one hand up Clark’s neck and buried it in his hair, then stroked his fingers through it soothingly.  
  
“So... what’s kryptonite and how can I avoid it? I’d rather not go crazy and lose a hand.” Clark’s laugh then was tinged with just a touch of hysteria and Lex mentally kicked himself for bringing up his predecessor's mistakes when Clark was so obviously still upset by whatever had happened.  
  
“It’s the meteor rocks. You had Smallville stripped of them years ago, right after Kon was found. We fought about it, I thought you were stockpiling them to hurt me. Hurt us, I wouldn’t listen, I just- demanded things.” Clark again sounded miserable. Lex looked toward the sky, thinking that at very least that sounded like Clark.  
  
“I called you a liar, but so far as I’ve been able to find, there isn’t any. A few people have pieces I gave them, in case. It hasn’t been an issue in years. I think you- he! He really destroyed it all.”  
  
“Clark, after I saw what it did to you earli- at Belle Reeve. Of _course_ I would destroy it.” Clark moved back then, suddenly, and smiled at Lex, blinking away stray tears that had welled. Lex blinked, surprised by the bright grin in response.  
  
“I know _you_ would.” Clark said, something intimate about his tone. He cupped Lex’s cheek and Lex _felt_ the thud of his own heart suddenly. Was Clark going to kiss him? He was looking at him with such open affection, such happiness. Lex was beyond tempted to close the scant distance between them again to seal their lips together, but the moment was so close to perfect after being locked away and being driven insane for so long that he couldn’t risk ruining it.  
  
“I would do anything to protect you.” Lex promised sincerely as he curled his fingers gently over Clark’s hand and leaned into his palm. He let his eyes slip closed. “You’re my best friend.” He said, as he had for years, those words so much safer than the intensity of the feeling behind them.  
  
Clark shifted forward again and Lex found his face buried in his chest as Clark wrapped both arms around him and dropped a kiss on the top of his head, seemingly impulsive. It wasn’t the first time Clark had done that, but as with the few other times Lex found his ears burning. This time though, Clark didn’t shuffle away and apologize. He held Lex closer, and Lex let himself revel in the comfort after the time he’d had since finding out about his father’s part in his grandparent’s deaths.  
  
“Will you,” He said after a few minutes had passed and his curiosity got the better of him. “Will you tell me about your powers? What do you mean when you say you could feel it’s me, and how did you know the concussion wasn’t healing as fast as... his. The other me, I'm assuming. Or, did you mean as fast as before Belle Reeve?”  
  
Clark huffed out a laugh against Lex’s crown, and he found himself relaxing further instead of tensing at it. “Well,” Clark begam, and Lex could hear the smile in his voice. “I could tell your concussion was headline slower than I’m used to him healing because I can see through things, and I’ve learned a lot about human physiology in the last couple decades. I have heat vision. I can make things really cold with my breath if I focus on it. I’m insanely strong, almost invincible now. I uh, need to breathe but can hold my breath for a really long time. Oh, and I can breathe a bunch of different atmospheres. Um.. Oh hearing, I can hear... _everything_ . It makes it hard to focus sometimes.”  
  
Lex had to _see_ Clark’s face. It was a bit difficult to read him now by tone alone and he wasn’t sure if he could believe the laundry list of things he’d been told. He stepped back, Clark releasing him with a curious look. Lex just gave him an encouraging look as it seemed he was still considering.  
  
“So yeah, Strong, I guess I didn’t mention fast. Fast, like Bart. He’s actually got me beat on land.” Lex held up a hand to pause Clark then.  
  
“As opposed to water?” Clark was already shaking his head though.  
  
“No, sorry, I mean when I fly. I can fly now.” Clark licked his lips, meeting Lex’s eyes for a moment before he plunged on. “I can withstand space, and deep-sea, I fell into the sun once, but that actually helped.” Lex felt his face go blank when he realized that Clark was fucking with him now. The other man didn’t seem to notice, and continued.  
  
“I can understand everyone on earth pretty much. Well, human languages, if it’s a magic language I can barely tolerate listening to it. Oh yeah, magic, I don’t have the best reactions to it. I think... it just sort of messes with me weird. Oh, and uh, if I do get hurt I heal really fast. Oh, and uh, not a metahuman, or meteor mutant.” Clark pointed to himself and looked up at Lex with a smirk. “Alien.” It died on his lips when he saw Lex’s expression. Lex arched an eyebrow.  
  
“You really had me going, at first.” Lex said, not really angry, but not understanding why Clark thought it was funny to mess with him _now_ of all times. Normally he’d probably laugh at the joke but after the day he’s had, the month he’d had.... Or- he suddenly realized. He hadn’t. None of his experiences had happened to _him_ . His only real experiences had been since he’d woken up surrounded by glass and flames. The smoke choking him. Hard to breathe. Surrounded by so much heat and noise and not sure where he was or who-  
  
“-Lex!” Clark was saying, worried when Lex came back to himself from the vision of the smoke filled lab he’d woken in. Clark had both hands on his upper arms and a look of fearful concern. Lex exhaled slowly and sighed.  
  
“Clark, today’s just been a bit much. I can’t take you joking with me right now.” The stricken look that flashed over Clark’s face surprised Lex, and then Clark frowned at him, pouting openly.  
  
“I’m not Lex, everything I said is true.” Clark said, the earnestness in his voice swaying Lex, despite logic.  
  
“Fell into the sun, Clark?” Lex asked tiredly, and scowled. “Come on.”  
  
Clark’s frown just deepened and Lex felt more uncertain. The whole day was one uncertainty after another and he was suddenly glad Clark was holding onto him. He had the strange feeling that if Clark let go he might float away, or vanish. He wasn’t sure if it had to do more with the concussion of the stress.  
  
“It’s true, Lex.” Clark said, his tone slightly hurt but insistent. “I’m from a planet called Krypton. It’s gone now, I’m one of the last survivors. It had a red sun, and the DNA of my people reacts differently to the radiation of yellow suns. It... gives us powers. Crazy, insane powers. So, I get that you don’t believe me now, but you will. It’s documented anyway. Lexcorp documented it. You... uh, got a bit _obsessed_ with satellites. You have a planetary network with cameras watching for anything approaching earth. You got it on film. Anyway- it saved me, really. The sun.” Clark was being truthful, so far as Lex could tell. He’d always been such a shit liar, and there was no _reason_ for these lies. Lex would be able to destroy him, if they were true, and it weren’t _Clark_ .  
  
“Alright.” Lex accepted, taking a deep breath and readjusting to a world where his best friend was an invincible alien who could survive falling into the sun. He laughed suddenly, and at Clark’s curious look he shared the thought. “I’m a clone and my best friend is an alien.” Clark smiled, and then looked toward the farmhouse as though something had caught his attention. Lex followed his gaze and found nothing unusual, other than the Kent truck being a newer model than he’d ever seen.  
  
“Mom wants me to get you back inside so you can rest. Would you rather sleep at Bruce’s though? I can get us there in under a minute. The beds there are way more comfortable than my old one, and Kon’s in the old guest bedroom.” Lex blinked and looked at Clark, considering.  
  
“I... I’d like to get to know Conner.” Lex said, his tone giving away that he was going over his options. “I don’t want him to feel like I’m running away after just meeting him.” Clark’s face took on an expression of abject shame for a moment before he ducked his head and cleared his throat. Lex figured it had everything to do with the bad start Clark had mentioned and sighed to himself, half regretting bringing it up.  
  
“They’ll probably follow us over if we go. We can go inside and let mom and the boys know, if you want to go there.” Lex studied Clark and then nodded. As much as he’d like to shelter in the Kent house for a time to wrap his head around being a clone, he wanted to get started finding out how much of his life he could reclaim. He also wasn’t particularly keen on the idea of having to rely on others to survive, with nothing to call his own. If he could reclaim nothing of his own, he was still fairly sure he could come up with a business venture that Bruce would be interested in investing in.  
  
“Alright then, we’ll go to Gotham.” Lex declared, ready to take a purposeful step forward despite feeling worn and weary after the rude awakening.  
  
Clark smiled at him and walked beside him as they made their way together back to the farmhouse to inform the others of their decision. 

**Author's Note:**

> If you like this, please leave a comment.
> 
> It was seeing a few comments on things I'm doing now that have me getting back into writing and sprucing up stuff thats just sitting in folders to be posted.
> 
> (-=+ Possible spoilery musings follow: +=-)
> 
> I'm considering having Luthor still be alive. He... is not mentally stable, and vicious/amoral in a way Lex isn't, but I love that version of him too and have some ideas why he might be so unstable that have to do with mating bonds. I'm also shamelessly poly and think in a world like this, relationships and what defines them might be a lot more loosely defined. So there might be flirtations or relationships outside Clex, though it's my main focus.
> 
> Definitely playing with mating-bond/soul-mate tropes in this, as I probably will in most of my Clexian/Kryptonian tales.


End file.
